Tom Barry served in the British Army during the First World War before becoming a prominent commander in the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence. He became particularly associated with the Kilmichael ambush of November 1920 and the West Cork campaign against British forces. His experience of guerrilla warfare later informed his memoir, Guerrilla Days in Ireland, an influential account of the conflict. Barry's life also reflected the divisions that followed independence: during the Civil War, he opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty and fought on the anti-Treaty side. His story remains closely tied to the complicated struggle that gave birth to the Irish state.